At A Glance
Author	kylie
Contact	pixie_stix@hotmail.com
When	A month ago
Artist	Joe
Studio	Wiz Tattoo
Location	Brewer, ME

I'm not exactly new to the wonderful world of piercing. In September of 2003 I decided it was time for two new additions to my body. After many tribulations with the scheduling of my appointment, my date was set, September 28th. I'd be making the drive to Wiz Tattoo and Body Piercing where my piercer, Joe, works faithfully.
After weeks of anticipation and anxiety the big day arrived. My mother and I made the forty-five minute drive to the studio. When we arrived Joe was outside having a smoke in the rain. Mom and I went inside to escape from the rain while Joe finished puffing away. I was surprised to see the shop relatively alive, considering it is appointment only, and there is not usually overlap of the scheduling. To my dismay I discovered one of the people already in the shop was set to have her navel pierced and I would have to wait. [Luckily, she wanted a more expensive bar and had to leave to get some extra cash.]
I went on to fill out the proper paper work with Mom and then pick out my jewelry. Once I'd done all this, Joe had me enter the piercing/tattooing area. He proceeded to wash his hands, put on disposable rubber gloves, clean my ear, mark it, have me okay the positioning, shape the needles, and then change his gloves. While Joe was busy with all of this I got comfortable and waited patiently. Joe and I made small talk about what was new with each of us and about his newly acquired body piercings. [He has 22 and will soon be getting more!] Since this was a double poke-age and the tragus piercing was not new to me, I properly positioned myself and then the usual count of one-two-three followed by the piercing and then the insertion of the jewelry. But this is about my rook, so onward with the story.
After having my second of my tragi pierced Joe gave me a few minutes between piercings, "just to be safe." By this point, I was pretty nervous, the tragus wasn't a big deal, I had experienced it before, but my rook was a new situation. Joe instructed me to position myself just as I had before and then he had me take some deep breathes. As I was taking about my third deep breath I felt tremendous pinching in my ear. It wasn't a painful sensation; it just felt like I'd somehow jammed my ear into a door. The noise was worse than the piercing itself; it was an atrocious snapping, at least twice as bad as the sound given off by both of my tragi combined.
The next stage of the piercing was the hardest. Staying still long enough for Joe to insert the jewelry without having to re-pierce my rook. [My friend was unfortunate enough to have to go through that.] My whole body was trembling a little from the adrenaline rush I was experiencing. Joe noticed and asked if I was okay or if I needed anything to drink and what not. I told him I was fine, just excited, and he went on with the insertion. I could feel him sliding the jewelry through my ear and tugging a bit, on the account that there isn't a whole lot of room in my ear. I was then allowed to sit up and examine my two new piercings with love. I remained seated for a few minutes, I didn't want to risk passing out. Finally I got up, thanked Joe, showed the on-lookers my piercings, and then got into the car for the drive home.
Apparently, my adrenaline either makes me one tired girl or it is very short lived, because on the way home I took a nap. For the rest of my day I pretty much sat in front of a mirror going "ooh" and "ahh."
Here it is about two weeks later and I am still ecstatic about my new additions. They're currently going through the "itch me! Itch me!" stage and I'm fighting like hell not to itch them, because I know it is one of the worst things you can do to a healing piercing. My rook and my tragus both look great, thankfully I don't have a real big problem with tons of crusties like some people do, so I don't constantly have gook covering my ear. I now have a total of seven piercings [rook, tragi, lobes, navel, and inverse navel] and I couldn't be happier with how all of them have turned out. I encourage anyone out there, no matter your shape, size, color, gender, and all that jazz to go for it if you want a piercing. Find a reputable shop and as we say here in Maine, "get 'er dun!"

To find out more about Joe and Wiz Tattoo visit them at:
http://www.wiztattoos.com/